Where the first iPod shuffle had been the size of a pack of chewing gum, the 2G iPod shuffle was barely large enough for its controls and a headphone jack. It had a built-in clip so you could attach it to your clothing, and you could pick from five different colors.

With its aluminum enclosure, the 2G iPod shuffle was even more rugged than the 1G Shuffle had been. It had the same 1 GB of storage as the previous top-end Shuffle, and that gave way to a 2 GB version in February 2008.

The 1 GB version was initially available only in silver. Blue, pink, green, and orange were added in January 2007, and in September 2007, the color lineup was changed to blue, green, purple, silver, and red – for Project (RED). These colors were also used for the 2 GB Shuffle.

Two switches allow you to turn the iPod shuffle on and off or switch between shuffle and whatever order your tunes had on iTunes when you synced them to the Shuffle. (For more details on how Shuffle works, see Shuffle in iTunes and iPods Is Not as Random as You’d Think.)

Because of its minuscule size, the 2G Shuffle uses a special dock to charge the iPod and connect it to your Mac or PC. This was the first iPod to drop support for Windows 2000 and add support for Windows Vista. It was also the first iPod to require OS X 10.4 Tiger on Macs.

Unlike competing flash-based MP3 players, the Shuffle has no menu system. You load it with the songs you want to hear, and it takes over from there. You can skip to the next song, but you can’t select it.

The iPod shuffle has controls similar to those on hard drive iPods, but slightly different. There are the previous and next song buttons and the play/pause button, but at the top is + to increase volume and – at the bottom to decrease it.

With its flash drive and small size, the Shuffle was the perfect iPod for runners and others on the go who didn’t want to risk damaging a more expensive MP3 player.

The Shuffle can only play MP3 and AAC files; it cannot play Apple Lossless or AIFF encoded files.

The Shuffle uses a SigmaTel D-Major STMP3550 processor, which some regard as providing the best sounding audio of any iPod.

Unlike competing devices that used MP3 file compression, the iPod with iTunes was designed to use the superior AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) audio format in addition to MP3. AAC generally provides superior sound quality over MP3 at the same bit rate, especially at 96 kbps and lower sampling rates, as well as more efficient encoding, which means smaller files.

Hardware Overview

Models

• Announced: 2006.09 at US$79 (1 GB, silver). 2007.01.30, additional colors added. 2 GB model announced 2008.02.19 at $69, lowering the price of the 1 GB model to $49.
• Included accessories: earbuds, dock
• Code name: none
• Model number: A1204
• Product numbers: unknown

Technology

• CPUs: 75 MHz SigmaTel D-Major STMP3550
• Audio chip: SigmaTel D-Major STMP3550
• Display: none
• Battery: lithium polymer
• Charge time: about 4 hours
• Play time: up to 12 hours

Compatibility

• Original OS: iPod shuffle 2G OS 1.0
• Maximum OS: iPod shuffle 2G OS 1.0.4
• iTunes Versions: iTunes 7.0 and later for 1 GB, 7.4 for 2 GB.
• Mac OS Required: OS X 10.4.8 or later
• Windows Versions Supported: Windows Vista, XP Home or Professional SP2

Dimensions and Weight

• Dimensions: 1.07″ x 1.62″ x 0.41″
• Weight: 0.55 oz.

Further Reading

• Best iPod shuffle Prices, best online deals on iPod shuffles.
• A History of the iPod: 2005 to Present, Tom Hormby, Low End Mac.
• iPod Shuffle, Wikipedia
• iPod shuffle (2nd generation), apple-history.com

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